Page:VCH Rutland 1.djvu/243

POLITICAL HISTORY lent Queen Mary >C20, which had not yet been repaid. In civil affairs he had sat for the county in almost every Parliament of the last thirty years, and had been five times sheriff. Lastly he had had twenty-five children, 'which hathe bene to hym verry chargeable.' His petition had the desired effect in relieving him of the proposed loan. Sir John Harington of Exton and Burley lived in great state in the reign of Elizabeth. In 1602 he kept a 'royal Christmas,' his guests being 'the Erles of Rutland and Bedford, Sir John Gray and Sir Harry Carie, with theire ladies, the Erie of Pembroke, Sir Robert Sidney, and many more gallants.^" Three months later the great queen died, and her Scottish successor came south to take the throne. Leaving Bclvoir Castle, where he had been splendidly entertained by the Earl of Rutland, on Saturday 23 April, he dined with Sir John at Burley, and as he rode towards Stamford in the afternoon the way across Empingham Heath was beguiled with the hunting of hares conveyed in baskets, ' Sir John's best houndes with good mouthes following the game.' Another diversion was the appearance of a hundred giants, who turned out to be ' poore honest sutors, all going upon high stilts, preferring a petition against the Lady Hatton,' which the king told them to present at London. James spent Easter Sunday at Burghley, and next day resolved to return to Rutland for more sport ; he was, however, checked by his horse falling, which bruised his arm severely, and having spent Monday night at Burley, he took coach next day on his return to Burghley.^" In May 1603 Sir Robert Cecil became Baron Cecil of Essendine, the first step in his rapid rise in the peerage, while two years later he was made Earl of Salisbury, and his elder brother Thomas, Lord Burghley, was created Earl of Exeter. ^'^ In July 1603 Sir John Harington was made Baron Harington of Exton, and in October he was entrusted with the guardianship of the Princess Elizabeth. He took her to Combe Abbey near Coventry, his wife's inheritance, and they were living there when the Gun- powder Plot was formed in 1605. One part of the design of the conspirators was to abduct the princess and declare her queen. Harington, however, escaped with her to Coventry on 7 November, two hours before the con- spirators arrived. Leaving the princess in the charge of the loyal citizens of Coventry, he joined Sir Fulke Greville and took part in the final scene at Holbeach, where Catesby and his companions stood at bay. One member of this desperate band was another Rutland man. Sir Everard Digby of Stoke Dry, who had been knighted by James on his visit to Belvoir two and a half years before. Unlike some of the other conspirators Digby had no persecution to complain of, but he had fallen strongly under the influence of John Gerard. On the morning of 8 November he left his companions, but was soon arrested, and on 30 January 1606 he suffered the death of a traitor; he left two sons, one of whom fought for King Charles forty years later, and the other was the famous Sir Kenelm Digby. ^^'^ '** Chamberlain, Lett. (Camd. Soc), 171. '" True Narrative of the Entertainment of his Royall Maiestie (1603) E. 3 et seq. The Natrative does not state where Sir John Harington entertained the king, but the course of events must have been as stated above, for it was at ' Burley Harington ' that Samuel Daniel presented his Panegyrike Congratulatorie. '" G.E.C. Complete Peerage. "* Diet. Nat. Biog. John Lord Harington and Sir Everard Digby ; see also F.C.H. Warm, ii, 446-7. 183